Friday, March 30, 2012

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I didn't expect to love this soup so much, but it kind of blew me away. The flavors were so fresh and bold. It was so good that for a brief moment, I could close my eyes and pretend I was at a Thai restaurant, a very casual one where I get to wear my Homer Simpson slippers. This soup had just the right amount of heat for me too (which means if you like things really spicy, you should probably pump up the volume when you make it). Of course it helped that I avoided actually swallowing any of the hot pepper pieces. So if you eat those, you'll be in business (I, on the other hand, would be filing bankruptcy on behalf of my aching tongue).

THAI COCONUT CHICKEN SOUP

Serves 6

2 (14 oz.) cans light unsweetened coconut milk

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

3 stalks lemongrass, cut in half vertically and then into 4- to 5-inch pieces

Occasionally I see this at my supermarket, but I'm lucky
enough to live near a little produce store that sells a lot of
Asian and Latin ingredients. Their lemongrass is always
better than what they sell at the grocery store.

I chopped mine about 2"-3", but I recommend
chopping it 4"-5" (just to make it easier to remove).

ginger and jalapeño pepper (I couldn't find a serrano)

I was scared if I cut my pepper into rings and kept the
seeds/membranes, the soup would be too spicy for me.
So instead of rings, I just cut mine into large pieces.

adding fish sauce to coconut milk, lemongrass, garlic and ginger

mushrooms, sambal and hot pepper added

The mushrooms could have been sliced thinner, but I
bought them already sliced and wasn't about to try to slice the
slices thinner (I might as well stick my fingers in the paper
shredder and be done with it). I know I added the broth too,
but I think I forgot to take a photo of that.